The invention relates generally to apparatus and/or methods for improving safety for personnel working with drivers during vehicle maneuvers.
Large motor vehicles serve many functions in modern society. For example, emergency crews may operate fire trucks, ambulances, and other rescue vehicles to and from locations where they are needed to perform various emergency response functions. Professional drivers operate semi-trailer trucks or a delivery van in a fleet, for example, to deliver goods or services to their destinations. As a further example, non-commercial large vehicles, such as mobile homes or other recreational vehicles, may be driven between residential and remote locations. As further examples, garbage and recycling pick-up trucks operate in residential areas, and construction vehicles, such as dump trucks or cement trucks, operate in or around road or building construction sites.
However, every year, tragic deaths, serious injuries and substantial property damage occur when backing many of types of vehicles. In addition, these incidents may permanently or temporarily take these vehicles of out of service until a formal inspection is performed, due to insurance regulations and city ordinances, even if the damage is minimal or does not affect the integrity of the emergency vehicle. This then leaves the fleet or emergency service department short-handed in terms of available equipment. While the reverse or backing-up speeds involved may be much lower than forward operation, driver visibility and depth perception may be significantly affected and obscured by the physical size and viewing angles available to the driver, particularly when the driver is located at a substantial distance from the back of the vehicle.
In many situations, large motor vehicles, such as fire trucks, that make backing maneuvers at certain locations, such as at a fire station, may back into a parking position between other vehicles and/or fire station structures, such as a garage door pillar. At an emergency site, emergency vehicles may need to perform backing maneuvers to access a fire hydrant. This also applies to other situations other than emergency vehicles.
While backing the large vehicle, the large vehicle operator may have little or no visibility in some or all of the immediate zones in the path of the backing vehicle. The size and features of the vehicle may substantially obscure the driver's view of people or objects in the vehicle's path. In some circumstances, visibility may be further limited by unfavorable lighting conditions and/or unfamiliar terrain. Ambient and/or vehicle noise, for example, may further complicate the driver's ability to detect dangerous conditions that may develop behind the backing vehicle. In some cases, radio links may not provide sufficient access to rapidly communicate safety information to a driver. For example, crowded radio channels may cut-off the ability of a spotter to “break-in” to a channel to notify a driver of a hazard when a hazard is detected.
Various published accounts suggest that backing of large vehicles can pose significant risks to both personnel and property. For example, citizens and/or fire crew personnel may be present in or near the path of a backing emergency vehicle. Therefore there is a need in the market to provide devices for improving safety for personnel involved in moving large vehicles with known or potential blind spots.